Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 39 Chapter 39: Zhaocai, Zhaocai

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Mo Zhaocai’s hand reached into the giant pupil and his face showed some surprise. However, the surprise did not last for long and it instantly turned into stunned fear. The ear-piercing chewing sounded again. Mo Zhaocai, like those mountain bandits, was sucked directly into the blood pupil by a huge force.

There was no miracle. Mo Changlan was not surprised and even snorted indifferently.

The giant pupil ate Mo Zhaocai and its iris turned slightly. Its gaze fell on Lin Rufei and Mo Changlan’s bodies. Lin Rufei didn’t know if it was his delusion, but he actually felt that the giant pupil was thinking, thinking about whether to swallow him and Mo Changlan.

Mo Changlan also felt threatened and his expression became slightly nervous. However, in front of such a huge thing, the resistance of mortals was useless.

Lin Rufei was not interested in the “so-called” legend and there was also no particular wish he wanted to come true. However, he knew that the thing Gu Xuandu wanted, should be this thing in front of him.

The atmosphere was stagnant for a long time.

Mo Changlan seemed to have finally made up his mind as he secretly clenched his teeth like he made some kind of determination. He took a deep breath, and like Mo Zhaocai, slowly walked towards the giant pupil.

Knowing that it was a death sentence, there were still people who went after it. It was this terminal disease called “desire.”

Lin Rufei ignored him. He took out the talismans from his ring, turned around, and put it on Fu Hua and Yu Rui. The two maids had their eyes closed and seemed to have lost consciousness. Their faces were still stained with blood and it didn’t look good at all. The talismans emitted a faint light as it brought their bodies up from the ground and slowly flew away into the distance. He didn’t know what would happen next and thought it would be safer to send the two of them away in advance.

After Lin Rufei did all that, he looked back again, and Mo Changlan was already standing in front of the giant pupil. At his feet, he placed the head of his own brother, Mo Changshan, onto the ground.

“Who would have thought that the Mo family, which was calling the shots back then, could fall to this miserable state today.” Mo Changlan said in a deep voice, “Our family’s talented people; those who died are dead, those who are injured are wounded and finally, the only one left became a bandit…….”

The giant pupil stared at Mo Changlan indifferently and was also indifferent to his words.

“But I, Mo Changlan, don’t believe in fate!” Mo Changlan hissed, “I have been looking for you for more than ten years. Since you are finally willing to show up today, even if I die, I will die in your hands!”

He sought this huge pupil for more than ten years, but he could never make it appear. It wasn’t until later when someone gave him pointers.

“When a person dies, the soul is condensed in the eyes. Just take advantage of their last breath and dig out their eyes as a sacrifice, then the thing will be drawn out.” The witch with the black snake in his arms said, “After it comes out, take out what is inside, then your wishes would be fulfilled. But the higher the cultivation of the person’s eyes, the more it can attract him. What it likes most, is the eyes of an exiled immortal ……”

Mo Changlan believed him. He had to believe because he had no other method.

Luckily, the witch did not deceive him. After he lured the two level five exiled immortals to this place, the blood pupil was finally lured out, and the last thing to do was to put his hand into the blood pupil.

Mo Changlan stood in front of the blood pupil and for the first time, there was some unspeakable fear. However, the desire to achieve his wish finally prevailed.

Lin Rufei watched from afar, watching Mo Changlan, like Mo Zhaocai, reach his hand towards the black slit of the blood pupil. But before he reached out, he seemed to have put something in his hand, as a result, he was different from the others and wasn’t directly swallowed by the blood pupil.

When Mo Changlan saw this situation, his face surfaced with a little joy. He wiggled his arm around like he was constantly groping the inside of the blood pupil.

Time passed little by little and the smile on Mo Changlan’s face began to fade away. His face became pale and cold sweat surfaced on his forehead.

“How can…… this be ……” He muttered under his breath, as if in a state of madness, “How can this be.” He lowered his head in despair and looked at his arm, “How can it be empty ……”

The appalling blood color began to spread down his arm towards his body and the blood pupil finally devoured his flesh and blood. However, it left his bones behind. His eyes were wide open, and right in front of Lin Rufei, he quickly turned into a withered skeleton.

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Lin Rufei saw all of this clearly. Mo Changlan without his flesh and blood was like the weathered rocks that rustled and broke down. His round skull rolled to the side and hit the wooden box that contained Mo Changshan’s head.

It was a different route to the same destination

Almost all of the people present were gone and at this time the cliff was empty. Lin Rufei stood in place as the whistling mountain wind blew his shirt hem into a rustle.

The blood pupil looked at Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei should have been afraid, but after removing the initial sense of fright, his heart was actually incomparably calm. The giant pupil stared at him and he also looked at the blood giant pupil. No words were exchanged between the two.

“I have nothing to wish for.” Lin Rufei tentatively said, “You can go.”

The giant pupil didn’t move.

“You have eaten so many people, it should be enough.” Lin Rufei remembered that Gu Xuandu once said that this thing wouldn’t hurt him, whether that was true or not, he did not know.

The black slit in the center of the giant pupil widened and instead of retreating, it pressed slowly towards Lin Rufei. Although the speed was very slow, it was indeed approaching Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei turned and ran, but before he could make it a few steps, he hit an invisible wall and was forced to stop. He had just successfully sent his maids out, but how come it didn’t work now that it was his turn? Lin Rufei was a bit distressed.

The giant pupil had completely covered the entire sky and the overwhelming sense of oppression made people feel like they were just a tiny mole[1].

Lin Rufei saw that he could not run away, so he simply did not run away. He turned around and looked at the giant pupil with a sad face, “I really don’t have anything that I want.” His desire was extremely light and what he loved the most, was only to see more of the world’s mountains and rivers and to have more time fiddling with a few of the gadgets from the marketplaces. Even the ability to wield a sword was no longer something he had high expectations for.

The giant pupil didn’t listen in the slightest and was now almost pressed against Lin Rufei’s front.

Lin Rufei was helpless: “Isn’t this trade using coercion?” This giant pupil treated others coldly, how come when it came to him, it was eager to stick its body closer?

Lin Rufei was squeezed to a corner and really couldn’t retreat. If he stretched out his hand, he would reach the black slit.

Lin Rufei was speechless. He frowned and sighed: “Okay, okay.” He would believe Gu Xuandu one more time; believe that this thing would not hurt him. However, even if he didn’t believe it, there seemed to be no other way.

Helplessly, Lin Rufei was forced to slowly put his hand into the giant pupil.

There were so many miserable examples before him. In the moment when Lin Rufei reached his hand in, his heart was still a little anxious. However, these anxieties soon turned into doubts.

Lin Rufei did not feel anything. His hand seemed to be exploring a void as there was no sense of touch. He tentatively stretched his hand a bit more inside and finally touched something different.

Sticky, moist, as if it were…… undried bloodstains.

Lin Rufei’s movements paused slightly and his brows knitted tightly together. His hand touched a cold stone platform and on top of the stone platform, there was a layer of wetness. Needless to say, it was a very bad feeling to touch with your hands when you can’t see anything because you can’t tell what you’re touching and the fear of the unknown simply made people’s hair stand up.

The good thing was that the stone platform wasn’t too big and Lin Rufei quickly touched something. He really didn’t want to carefully describe the touch in his hand because the touch was really creepy.

It was a small round ball—soft and sticky—and when it was pinched, there was some soft elasticity, like …… an eyeball.

That’s right, it was an eyeball.

Lin Rufei’s expression froze, but he still gritted his teeth and gently held the tiny round ball with his hand. What he feared did not happen. He was neither sucked directly into the giant pupil like Mo Zhaocai nor was he gnawed directly into a withered skeleton like Mo Changlan. Getting what was placed inside the giant pupil was like a breeze.

Lin Rufei held his breath and finally managed to remove the object from inside the giant pupil. The moment he took the object out, the giant pupil let out a crisp, shattering sound.

The black slit began to distort and twist. The giant pupil hovering in mid-air let out a loud bang and then began to retreat rapidly.

When it retreated to a certain location, a river of blood started gushing out of the slit. Countless spherical objects interspersed in the blood rushed towards Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei was alarmed and turned to flee. However, Gu Xuandu, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly appeared. And with a wave of his long sleeves, he blocked the river of blood directly outside of them by one foot.

“Senior!” When Lin Rufei saw him, he called out joyfully.

Gu Xuandu said, “Thank you for your hard work.”

After the blood pupil in the sky gushed out the blood river, it began to crumble and break. Finally, its shape gradually faded away, turning into a blood mist, and completely dissipating.

Only then did Lin Rufei have the effort to look carefully at what he was holding. It was indeed an eyeball and it was lying quietly in his hand. The black pupil seemed to have life as it gently gazed at him. Gently? When this word popped up in Lin Rufei’s head, he also felt incredulous.

Lin Rufei lost his smile and just thought that he was infected with madness[2].

“Scared?” Gu Xuandu turned around and walked to Lin Rufei’s side.

Lin Rufei shook his head. His hands were now covered with blood and he was in a mess, but it was good that Gu Xuandu got what he wanted, “Is this the thing suppressing senior’s divine soul?”

Gu Xuandu said, “Yes.”

Lin Rufei said, “Can it really grant wishes?”

Gu Xuandu said curiously, “Who said that?”

Lin Rufei spread his hands: “They all said so. The Mo Zhaocai that we met before wanted to use this thing to revive his master.”

Gu Xuandu lost his smile: “It’s just an eyeball, if it can revive people, why would we need ……” He only said half of the words, then changed the subject, “You’re not hurt, right?”

“No.” Lin Rufei shook his head, “It really didn’t hurt me.” He said and handed the eye to Gu Xuandu.

Gu Xuandu was not polite either and directly reached out to take the object. But strangely enough, once the eyeball entered Gu Xuandu’s hand, it was like cold water that entered a frying pan. It directly swirled Gu Xuandu’s soul away layer by layer, provoking Gu Xuandu’s body shape to twist and change.

Seeing Lin Rufei’s worried look, Gu Xuandu shook his head slightly to indicate that he was fine.

Such changes continued for a long time. Only when the sky turned bright did Gu Xuandu’s figure stabilize again. However, at that time, compared with the previous him, his body seemed to have undergone some subtle changes. It was as if the ink painting that was washed away by rain was once again filled in by a skilled painter with the brush and ink—there were a few more spiritual charms to it.

And then they looked at the surrounding scenery. The original rocky cliffs have also changed back to their usual appearance, with many trees and lush weeds. Dozens of mountain bandits’ bodies were lying all over the place, among which the most eye-catching was Mo Changlan, who had already turned into white bones, and the wooden box beside him.

Lin Rufei remembered the agreement Mo Zhaocai made with him before he died and took a few steps forward to pick up the wooden box.

Inside the wooden box, Mo Changshan’s eyes were closed like he was in a deep sleep. There was a lock of hair placed beside it which was left by Mo Zhaocai. Lin Rufei was sighing when he noticed a large dog’s body lying not too far away. He held the wooden box and walked a few steps forward to see the dog’s appearance.

This was not a beautiful dog. It was very ordinary-looking, disheveled, thin, and bony. It was the most common kind of wild dog in the countryside. Its curled-up body that fell into the grass was already lifeless and Lin Rufei noticed that on its neck, a small wooden plate hung. He squatted down and gently turned it over only to see that on the wooden plate, there were two words carved stroke by stroke…… Zhaocai.

(t/n: it’s two characters in Chinese)

It turned out that the name of this dog was Zhaocai. Ah, it was really a vulgar name.

Lin Rufei reached out and touched its not-so-soft fur and sighed.

Everything has a spirit and so does the dog. Perhaps even Mo Changshan himself didn’t think that the dog he raised remembered him for his whole life. For dogs, the master was its everything. Mo Zhaocai died for Mo Changshan; it could be considered that he had fulfilled his wish. It’s a pity that the dead have passed like this and couldn’t be restored. In the end, Mo Changshan still wasn’t able to come back to life.

While thinking, Lin Rufei took out the wooden shield from his ring again.

When Gu Xuandu saw him doing this, he wondered, “What is Xiao Jiu doing?”

Lin Rufei said, “Digging a hole to bury them.”

Gu Xuandu thought it was very strange: “Why are you using a wooden shield to dig a pit?”

Lin Rufei: “If I don’t use a shield then what should I use?”

Gu Xuandu said frankly: “Gu Yu, hanging on your waist, is very good to use, ah.”

Lin Rufei glared: “Using Gu Yu to dig a pit ……is recklessly wasting God’s good gift!” As if echoing his words, Gu Yu buzzed and simply wanted to fly up to give Gu Xuandu a slap with its scabbard.

However, Gu Xuandu was not the slightest bit afraid. His expression did not change, “No worries. I even use it as a burning stick to make fire, it has long been used to it.”

Lin Rufei: “……”

Gu Yu: “……”

Finally, Lin Rufei closed his mouth and silently used his wooden shield to dig a pit for Mo Changshan and Mo Zhaocai. There were beasts in the mountains so the pit that he was going to use to bury people still had to be dug deeper. Otherwise, in a few days, the bodies would be dug out and eaten clean. Lin Rufei dug the pit and also asked Gu Xuandu to see if his maids had woken up. A while ago, he used a talisman to send them both out, but now he doesn’t know how the situation was over there.

Gu Xuandu didn’t even go when he said that the two people just suffered some damage to their eyes and that there was no serious injury. Lin Rufei worriedly asked whether their vision would be affected.

“It would definitely be affected.” Gu Xuandu said, “But not so much as to go blind. The two of them have cultivated, after nursing for half a month they should recover.”

Only then, was Lin Rufei finally completely at ease.

Lin Rufei dug a hole and carefully put the wooden box and Mo Zhaocai’s remains together before burying them with soil. He then carved the wooden shield Mo Zhaocai sold him with the names of the two people and inserted it on the grave.

After doing all this, he patted his hands to get rid of the soil and told Gu Xuandu that they were leaving.

Gu Xuandu thoughtfully looked at the grave but did not say anything. He turned around, followed Lin Rufei, and left.

When Lin Rufei found Fu Hua and Yu Rui, the two had yet to wake up. Lin Rufei felt some heartache when he looked at the residual blood marks on their faces. He pulled out a silk handkerchief, bent down to wipe the traces gently clean, and started a campfire next to the two. It was used to warm them as well as roasting some dry food to eat.

When he did these things, Gu Xuandu was watching. Lin Rufei nibbled a mouthful of dry food and drank water to moisten his throat. He called out, “Senior.”

Gu Xuandu: “Hmm?”

Lin Rufei said slowly: “Now that we have the item in hand, you should explain to me what it really is, right?”

Just as Gu Xuandu was about to speak, Lin Rufei added: “I’ve worked so hard, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

Gu Xuandu almost choked on Lin Rufei’s words and coughed dryly before saying in a low voice, “Why would I lie to you?”

Lin Rufei looked at him seriously and said, “Then tell me.”

Gu Xuandu said, “This is something left behind when the Heavenly Ruler passed by this place …… nothing special.”

This statement was the same as what Mo Changlan said. Lin Rufei suspiciously looked at Gu Xuandu: “Something left by the Heavenly Ruler? Why would the Heavenly Ruler leave behind an eye?” It would be fine if it was some kind of magical treasure, but leaving an eyeball was simply too bizarre.

Gu Xuandu innocently said: “This I do not know. I am not that laborious Heavenly Ruler. Who knows how he thinks, perhaps he had nothing better to do……”

Lin Rufei still didn’t believe him. This Gu Xuandu had lived for a long time so there were naturally a lot of things he knew. However, at this time he was very vague, making it obvious that he was hiding something.

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Lin Rufei then looked at Gu Xuandu and said seriously, “Senior is not willing to say because he thinks I can’t be trusted?”

Gu Xuandu’s expression turned helpless. He pulled out Shuang Jiang and ignored its uncontrollable buzzing as he poked the fire in front of him: “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I don’t even know myself so how can I explain it for you to understand?” He said this in a very small voice, with an expression that looked like he was lacking breath. It was very difficult to convince people.

Lin Rufei knew he was reluctant to talk about it so he had to give up. However, he was still a bit sullen since he always felt that Gu Xuandu was hiding something very important.

Fu Hua and Yu Rui did not wake up until noon. When they woke up, their eyes couldn’t see anything. The two of them heard Lin Rufei say that he was fine and they cried with joy. However, the tears were scarlet tears of blood. Lin Rufei’s heart trembled when he saw this and he quickly stuffed a corn candy in both of their mouths to make them smile.

According to Gu Xuandu, Fu Hua and Yu Rui’s eyes would take at least half a month to fully recover. However, they were currently in the mountains and didn’t even have a place to rest. What’s worse was that because of the previous incident, they had lost their horses and guide. No village ahead and no inn behind[3], it was like a miserable wilderness survival.

Fortunately, Lin Rufei had an idea. With his memory, he led them back to the bandits’ den on the mountain.

The elites of the bandit den were all killed in the hands of the giant pupil last night so the den was now empty. Only the old and sick, who have little fighting ability, were left. Gu Xuandu understood tacitly and easily solved the group of people. Lin Rufei cleaned out a few rooms and intended to stay here until Fu Hua and Yu Rui’s eyes recovered before making plans.

The two of them felt very guilty that they had not only failed to help, but also caused trouble for their young master.

Lin Rufei had to comfort the two. After saying a number of words, did the two put down the knots in their heart. He also took the time to send a letter to his brothers and sister to report his well-being. The biggest charm of Jianghu was that you can’t guess what would happen next. If everything goes by the book, he might as well stay on Kunlun Mountain and eat delicious rice cakes every day.

The Xiliang Mountains had always been a ruthless place. After some days, dozens of corpses would disappear completely. As for the grave with the tombstone inserted—the witch holding the black snake stopped his footsteps in front of it.

The witch, with a white scarf wrapped around his head, revealed only a pair of dark eyes. He crouched down halfway and saw the words on the tombstone.

Mo Changshan, Mo Zhaocai; they were familiar names. A smile surfaced in his eyes. He raised his hand and waved and the soil in front of him flew in all directions, revealing the deeply buried wooden box and the body of the dog.

The witch reached out, took the wooden box out, opened it, and saw the well-preserved head inside.

This was a beautiful head, even after so many years of death, it was no different from the living. Most likely, the person who preserved it spent a lot of effort. The witch suddenly revealed a smile. He raised his hand and sent out the black snake in his hand. The black snake hissed and slowly crawled on top of the head. It circled around the cheeks a few times and then back to the witch’s hand. One could see that above the forehead, a circle of black patterns appeared, and then just like a flash, it disappeared.

“Mo Changshan, the son of the Mo family. A sword cuts through ten thousand swelling water and a thousand miles can not be pursued as it remembers the cold sword intent……. It really is a great head.” The witch’s voice was strange and incomparable. One couldn’t tell whether the voice was male or female nor could they tell the age. He let out a shrill laugh and reached out his hand to point at the center of Mo Changshan’s forehead.

(t/n: Uhhh, even though one couldn’t tell his gender, the pronoun used here is “he” @[email protected])

The next moment, Mo Changshan, who had been dead for ten years, actually opened his eyes. Only the eyes were dull and lifeless as it stared silently ahead.

The witch hummed a tune. He happily held the head and turned away, leaving behind the dug-up grave. The dead dog in the grave, however, seemed to have died without having time to close its eyes.

At this time, Lin Rufei, who was in the den, squatted in front of a campfire with a concerned look. In front, an iron pot was cooking. He looked at the ingredients in his hand and was torn: “Am I supposed to put the vegetables first or the meat first, ah.”

Gu Xuandu was peeling a huge peanut with Shuang Jiang, and when he heard Lin Rufei ask, he said without looking back, “Put it in together!”

Lin Rufei let out an “oh,” and without hesitation, he threw in all the ingredients in his hand.

Gu Xuandu suddenly frowned and cursed, “What a nuisance.”

Lin Rufei said, “Hmm?”

Gu Xuandu said, “I’m just scolding the wild dog on the mountain that didn’t grow eyes.” He dared to rummage through everything.

Lin Rufei was unable to make sense of it.

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The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: You really didn’t lie to me?

Gu Xuandu: I never lie.

Lin Rufei: Really?

Gu Xuandu: No.